Avondale, La.– Indian-American Sahith Theegala and his partner, Aaron Rai—who also shares Indian heritage—carded a nine-under 63 in the opening round of the Zurich Classic, placing them tied for 13th. The duo trails leaders Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo by five shots after the PGA Tour rookies fired a tournament-record 58 to take the top spot at 14-under.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy, competing for the first time since winning the Green Jacket, teamed up with Shane Lowry to post an eight-under 64 in the four-ball (best-ball) format, leaving them tied for 18th.
Another Indian-American standout, Akshay Bhatia—who, like Theegala, secured sponsorship from Hero MotoCorp ahead of this year’s Masters—partnered with Carson Young to also shoot eight-under and join McIlroy and Lowry in 18th place.
Salinda and Velo made history with their opening-round 58, the lowest score ever recorded in the tournament. They torched the front nine at TPC Louisiana with eight birdies and an eagle from Salinda on the par-5 seventh, going 10-under before adding four more birdies on the back nine.
Danish identical twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard sit just one stroke back at 13-under. The Zurich Classic, the PGA Tour’s only team event, features alternating formats across four days: foursomes (alternate shot) on Friday and Sunday, and four-ball on Thursday and Saturday.
A large crowd gathered at the 10th tee early Thursday morning to catch a glimpse of McIlroy, who had been recovering from an illness earlier in the week. While the Northern Irishman had a slow start, he found his rhythm as the round progressed.
Lowry carried the team early, birdieing three of the first five holes after starting on the back nine, and adding another birdie on the par-5 18th. McIlroy’s first birdie came on a nearly 20-foot putt at the first hole, punctuated by a celebratory fist pump. He followed that with an eagle on the par-5 second hole, landing a 6-iron from 204 yards to within five feet.
Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama were tied for third at 11-under (61) alongside the teams of Cam Davis/Adam Svensson, Paul Peterson/Thomas Rosenmueller, and Kris Ventura/Antoine Rozner.
One of the standout moments of the day belonged to Adam Schenk, who holed out from 231 yards for an albatross on the par-5 seventh. Schenk and partner Tyler Duncan shot a 63 to remain in contention.
Germany’s Yannik and Jeremy Paul—the other set of identical twins in the field—posted a 67. (Source: IANS)
